Iím sitting here listening to the wind howling like a banshee at about 35-40 MPH with gusts up to 50MPH (which is standard for Southern Arizona, by the way), and got to wondering just where is the best year-round weather for flying?

Now, after twenty years in the Air Force, I can honestly say that Iíve been to a lot of places all over the world, so I know every place has its good and bad points. Still, Iím wondering if thereís one place that outshines the othersÖ what do you guys and gals say? Hold on now; before you start proclaiming your choice, letís set a couple standards okay?

1. Weather: Year-round, reasonably pleasant with few if any really cold (NO SNOW) or hot days (no higher than 110 degrees & low humidity).
2. Geography: At least enough of a mixture of types of terrain to make it interesting for all types of flying. Is that lax enough?
3. Either a good LHS or decent delivery times for mail orders.
4. A good, active local club with reasonable membership dues and requirements that likes and encourages ALL types of model flying (whatís that you say, thereís no such thing? Poppycock!)
5. No problems in the work/income area, my business is on the net, but some might have a little difficulty here.
6. Availability of flying sitesÖ how close/far to these?

Well, thatís a good start; if you can think of anything Iíve left out, add it in and letís see what/where we end up. Hmmm, wonder if itís possible that BaliÖ naw, couldnít be that lucky! Grounded62

I haven't been in many areas of the country all year round, but Here in Western Oregon we have all of the above mentioned. The weather is reasonably nice in the summer, its not too cold in the winter, pretty rainy in the spring, (This year we had a real dry winter)

We have lots of clubs, there are probably 5 within a 45 minute drive of here. I live 12 minutes from mine.

We have quite a few hobby shops in the Portland Area, but by far the Best, is Tammies Hobby in Beaverton. Delivery time is pretty quick. I can snail mail an order to Hobby Lobby, and get it in a week and one day.

Lots of varying terrain. Lots of open fields, some good slope sites, etc....

Oregon is a great place to fly albeit a little wet sometimes. I flew today in on and off rain, in fact I was training people to fly. I told them to just get used to it. If you wait for every sunny, cloudless day, you'll be waiting awhile, and they had a great time today. (Especially when the wheel fell off the trainer.

Lets see, I would like to have a backyard thats got a paved runway surrounded by grass you could putt on and about 1 mile square. Just off my property I would like to have all the r/c companies that manufacture kits and parts I use. Also have UPS setup their hub nearby. While Im dreaming how about a switch so you could turn the wind on and off and and another one to adjust the temperature.I would plant a few money trees to pick. Having Hugh Hefner relocate his Playboy mansion on my property would be nice. I wouldnt even charge him rent.

Hey now,
I like the S.F. area. We get tiny amounts of snow once every ten to fifteen years, not too hot (rarely above 90*) not too cold (rarely below 35*).
We have many good and a few awful hobby shops local. A couple dozen r/c clubs of various sorts, several of them "mixed". Good to world class slopes year 'round, and decent flying weather too. UPS, USPS, FedEx, and the rest all have hubs near by, there's work (skilled) and the rents aren't as bad as L.A. (anything south of salinas and north of T.J. is L.A. )

Pretty much any day I want I can go power flying in the morning and sloping in the afternoon, how can you beat that?
RobII

No slopes, relatively few official flying fields, hot humid summers, and winters that most people find too cold for flying ... But, housing is cheap, and you can buy enough land to set-up your very own personal air field. My air field occupies a 4-acre section of my property, and it is a great place to fly since I make all the rules and I have no neighbors.

SoCal usually has mild weather all year, though this spring we had endless rain of almost biblical proportions, and I was forced to go without flying for what seemed like weeks at a time (it was raining every time I was done with work and there was still daylight!).

Unfortunately SoCal also has expensive housing, polluted air, overcrowded freeways, and a few other things that make it less than an ideal place to live.

As for the LHS' availability, it is pretty good here in LA county, but I find I make most of my purchases off the Internet these days (usually because the item is not available at any LHS). Having a good LHS is not as important as it used to be.

Dang, I was wondering why Mark Wood was talking about Washington and then San Diego! I see now... 5 year old thread...

Elfwreck: you must be kidding about the rents in SF Bay Area! It's waayyy worse than LA for what you get! Rents are insane in SF- I had a little one bedroom apt in upper Mission District for $1800 a month . I grew up in Socal (Malibu) and went to school in norcal (Berkeley) and currently in purgatory in Champaign - but now, rent is $400 for 2 bedroom townhouse the flying fields are great but the weather stinks!)

SoCal wins hands down for hobby shops but SF is getting better with Sheldons and Aeromicro more recently... You have to look harder for flying fields in SF but RSA and Fort Mason for sloping come to mind. Can't beat sloping on a 500 foot cliff with the sun setting on the ocean horizon. Hobby shops in Champaign? Well, LHS Slot and Wing gets tons of overstock from Horizon and Hobbico... awesome

Whatever... getting nostalgic... happy flying to all wherever you are!

Mountains for alpine soaring & slope soaring. Good weather, cheap housing. The only thing it's missing is the LHS, which I'd gladly give up for that scenery. I'd just have to pay the money for shipping instead of housing. I think it gets pretty hot there during the summer, but I'm not sure. Living in the mountains would help it a lot.